(Image Source: AFP)
[Saba Sports News] Pakistan’s World Cup campaign in Chennai is filled with challenges.
They have faced batting collapses, a high dot-ball percentage, a lack of sixes, expensive new ball returns, and fielding lapses.
Their next two games in Chennai are crucial, and they hope for positive results to improve their standings. Despite recent issues, Imam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan opener, expressed confidence in the team’s recovery.
Pakistan faces Afghanistan first, and spin will play a significant role. While Pakistan has struggled with spin, Imam is optimistic based on past performances against Afghanistan. Another concern has been the pacers’ inability to be penetrative with the new ball.
Imam defended the bowlers, citing high-scoring games in the tournament and emphasizing the need to focus on the positives.
“All matches have been very high scoring (in this World Cup). It is not that it is only against our team. If you look at the other teams also, they are scoring 350-360, like yesterday there was a score of 400, so it’s not that only our bowlers are being beaten.The grounds here are small, the wickets are good, and when the batsmen are set, the margin for the bowlers is very low.”
“This is not an excuse, but the conditions are such. And it’s true that sometimes, there are ups and downs for the bowlers but Shaheen, like in the last match, I thought they would score 420 or 430, but our spinners and end bowlers performed very well and controlled them at 360. So, in patches, our bowlers have done very well, Shaheen has also done very well. So, these are a few positives and during the day you only look at the positives, we try to ignore the negatives because it is very important – we have back-to-back matches in this tournament. On the day we are bowling well, we have to back this. I personally don’t feel that this is not happening or that is not happening. Yes, on the day, often bad days come and I think we should back it.”